Conventional apparatus for feeding rolls of web material to a work station in accurate increments is relatively complex and expensive. In the advancement of web material containing repetitive printed patterns which are properly cut, punched out or otherwise operated on to produce blanks or objects in which the said patterns are properly indexed. A typical web feeding device requires a set of feed rolls moving continuously at web speed; a set of intermittently feeding rolls to deliver the required incremental feed length; an electric eye unit to sense indexing marks on the web; a selector switch to position the desired web length; a transmission unit to enable the advance and/or retard positions of the feed rolls; a forward and reverse motor to control the transmission unit; and a driving means for driving the two sets of feed rolls and the transmission unit.
Despite the complexity and sophistication of the foregoing type of apparatus, slippage and loss of registry still occur, resulting in an undesirable amount of scrap waste due to loss of registry of patterns and the like.